Moving platform

Hello friends. If you are following me here, the party is over. Blogger has been increasingly difficult. Plus I have blogs on various platforms so I finally spent a little money and I'm going to consolidate them--over time. This blog picks up there as of today. Email me for details.

Camping with the grands

I booked for one night at Oscar Sherer State Park, since it is close to where Doug, Amanda, Dalton and Weston live. They met me at the campsite. I grilled some burgers and dogs. They hung for a bit, then the parents left and the boys and I worked on settling into my tiny camper. They bicycled around a bit, then we took the dogs for a walk and went to bed. The next morning we took another hike, further out, found the small lake. Then back to the campsite to get all packed up. Travel days are hard on kids but we broke up the trip at a fun shake place. Eventually got ourselves settled into Wekiwa State Park Campground. First order of business, get into that fresh spring water. We stayed for hours, then swung out to grab Burger King for dinner. I know, I'm lazy - but they have this great plant-based Whopper! We have convenient access to the bath house via a short trail behind the campsite... the boys got showers, I walked the dogs. Then settled everyone in and got my own shower. I get up in the morning and work before the boys wake up. Once they were up we went right over to rent our canoe. We had to rent a canoe because a kid can't be in a kayak alone and with three of us, a canoe is all we could fit in together. You just paddle up a ways to this place called Wekiwa Island that is just a little party-oriented dock and outdoor bar with a food truck. So that was our plan, to time it so we'd paddle there for lunch. The paddle back was against the current so a bit more work and took twice as long, but it wasn't that hard. Lovely little creek. Pics are of swimming at the springs, kayaking and a dog hike I took later.

Weekend in the Keys

Greetings followers, I've been remiss about updating this blog for those people I don't text with continuously! Not that I think you are on the edge of your seats. Still, a commitment is a commitment. And updating this blog is as much for me, especially future me. We did have our weekend in the keys and it was short but wonderful. I so love being down there. Blogger doesn't let me see my pictures anymore or put labels on them. Not sure what changed. So I will tell you that pics are of the camper at the campground, the pool at the campground and our visit to Hemingway House in Key West.

Old homes, never as sweet

This has a double meaning, of course. First, because this area was my home for 20 years, but returning to it is not sweet. I never liked living here. I do like going to the beach and I much prefer the summer weather here to that of Southern Nevada, so there's that. Also this old house that we bought has expensive problems. Now, becuase of the changes wrought by Covid-19, you can't even get problems fixed if you can afford it. Supplies are limited, contractors are overbooked. I haven't posted anything since I got here - mainly because everyone in my family knows where I am, with family. But now I've done all the good I can here, and probably more harm than good, so I'm going to gather myself up and move along. I have a booking in the keys for the weekend which I will still keep. Then I'll mosey around Florida a bit until my reservations in North Florida kick in. So, on the move again soon... watch this space.

Biloxi is all that I suspected

 Observations:

* The south is the south is the south.

* Arriving Saturday evening in the midst of something called 'Scrapin the Coast' - billed as a hot rod show but it was all lifted trucks with massive stereos. My beachfront RV park was truly in the center of it all. The beach road in was lined with spectators like it was the Macy's Thanksgiving parade.  It was noisy, and honestly stressful.  Navigating the park itself, locating my spot and backing into place in the dark in such cramped quarters is not the most fun I've ever had. It emptied out on Sunday and was quiet on Monday. I left Tuesday morning.

Busy event

The main expo area, a few blocks way

* Only saw one confederate flag in the crowded park the next morning, and oddly it was not the battle flag that you commonly see stretched across the back of common (not sexy, lifted) pickup trucks. Did see trump signs. Have seen them continuously since entering the south. Some are still the Trump 2020 signs, some say Trump 2021; many just say the name. Thankfully people started leaving in droves throughout Sunday. 

* Oddly invigorating to see a pretty even mixture of black folks and white folks at the event. It's true that I have not lived in the south for a long time, but you would never have seen that back then. There would be events for the rednecks and separate events for everyone else. So - I found this heartening even if I found the event itself unpleasant.

* The gulf water is a muddy brown. There are multiple stories about why but the most common is the great muddy Mississippi River dumping out here. I've heard also that there are three other rivers that dump their muddy waters here. High temps and low salinity have led to deadly algae blooms.  Plus some articles I read suggested that the Mississippi River is a dumping ground for agri-chemicals all the way down the country and they are all dumped out here in a vile, toxic soup. Other articles insist, "It's just mud, the water is clean."  What I can tell you for certain is I had no desire to submerge my body in it.  The sand is soft and white though, so there's that.

* I did try to eat lunch at this fabulous looking diner on the beach. This is when it really drove home to me that no one can get anyone to work. You really just can't get service because no one will work. I heard at the campground in Lafayette that they are offering $500 signing bonuses at the fast food places.

Sooo - things I didn't do. Swim in the ocean. Hang at the beach (there was no one at the beach -- but driving up and down the beachfront road there were some places where people were out there, and even a few were swimming. Seriously, not many.)  I didn't eat at this diner, pictured below.  I didn't go to the Jefferson Davis home/museum. The museum/history nerd in me warred with it for a bit. I am trying to see all of the Presidential Libraries. I even tried to tell myself it would be good to witness for myself if the exhibits put it all in the right perspective. In the end, I couldn't do it. Maybe some day, but not now. They have several confederate flags flying outside the place and I find it "interesting" that this promo picture so carefully obscures all but the American flag.

Jefferson Davis home/library/museum. I did not go.

I did not go. They said "Sure, come on in. We'll get to you in about an hour." 

I did the usual dog-walking and driving around. Went to the Katrina memorial, described thusly: Tile mural of a wave, a group of items recovered from after Hurricane Katrina, and a 12 ft black granite slab representing the height of the storm surge in 2005. Also nearby, a seating area around one of the large trees that survived the storm.

Katrina Memorial

The next day it rained. I worked for awhile then decided to take a personal care day. My neck has been stiff from the camper bed and from driving. Called around and got a massage appointment and a pedicure appointment.  The pedicure was great, got lucky. What was even better was the massage - just went to Massage Envy (the fancier spas and casinos didn't have an opening, I tried.)  But I got a great massage and a fascinating history of the area from a gentle bear of a man who was as liberal and as big of a history nerd as I. What a bonus!

It rained while I broke down camp the next morning. I was trying to keep the sand to a minimum, but once it started pouring, I gave up. A few pics of the beach and campground.

Lots of lifted and lowered pickup trucks

Beach

My spot after things thinned out.

Muddy water

More muddy water (video but can't post a video here.)

La la la lafayette

 

A familiar home

Rhiannon and I had quite the adventures while staying at this park for a few days during our move West in 2016.  It is a truly pleasant campground. One of those KOA's very oriented toward kids with a mini golf and pedal boats that look like dolphins frolicking about on the lake. Shady, and to my sensibilities pleasantly summer warm (not scorch-your-face-off-hot.)

This was just a rest break before arriving in Biloxi. 

Thursday, still Fredericksburg. LBJ Park

 A long morning of work but it is pleasantly cool in here, the park is quiet, my bit of housework yesterday has made things better for getting around. Still looking forward to unloading the extra stuff, but we're all settling into the groove now.

At the sort of end of the work day on some time zones I just played hooky and went to the Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and also the LBJ National Park and the Johnson Ranch.  Took the dogs because a lot was outside trails and stuff. We all really enjoyed it.

I drove the loop through the ranch, then back to the trailer. Dogs were exhausted. 

I took a few pictures. Mostly obsessed with the wildflowers. Some wildlife, too, but the pics didn't come out so I discarded them.

Here's a few pics of our day.

Worky Wednesday

Early start to my work day - on my time zone anyway. Naturally, since I decided to spend a long day driving yesterday, loads of people came out of the woodwork wanting something from me. Took me six hours to just get even this morning.

In between things I got the rest of the way setup, did some housecleaning, and made a list for my Walmart run. Googled for things to do tomorrow and then for a dog park for this afternoon. 

Thrilled to discover a huge dog park - two sections and both of them huge! It is also adjacent to a different RV park. I might try to stay there another time... on the other hand it costs twice as much as this one, so I'm still pretty happy with where I am. Anyway, that one is Ladybird Johnson RV park. 

See the little guys running? And the (small craft) airport!

Home projects day.  I discovered yesterday, to my disappointment, that I don’t have my good pliers with me. I used the needle-nosed ones, and they worked, but I need a hefty pair of pliers with some serious torque. (Sometimes the water hoses are too tight for me to release by hand.) 

Studied the problem of some straps that flap in the breeze and end up banging annoyingly against the truck, I decided some extra long zipties might be in order. The straps themselves aren't coming loose, just the loose ends that I sort of macramé together in an effort to keep them from flapping. So now they are knotted up but also zip-tied. That should do it. 

The fabric in the truck roof is coming down in places so spray adhesive was in order. I got that fixed easily, but now I have a whole can of the stuff. I don't have any at home so that's sort of okay, but I wouldn't have chosen to drag that can around all summer. Still I may need to spray-adhese something else before it's over. 

A screw came loose that holds the sort of dust-ruffle bit of the couch, so I needed glue to put in the screw hole. This is the only project I didn’t get done today. My only spontaneous purchase -- and I allow myself spontaneous food purchases – was some plant-based Italian sausage to cut up in my plant-based mac & cheese with ... yep, plants. Nice dinner. 

Did the truck projects the cooler, less glaring early evening and chatted up my neighbors - 3rd full timers I met today (two at the dog park/rv park.) 

The air conditioner is keeping up nicely on lo-auto, the wifi signal is fantastic, the shower is decent and there are some interesting places to explore tomorrow in between working. Soy contento.

Some random photos of Fredericksburg that I did not take.

Dienstag

 ... that means Tuesday in German.

Addendum to the pie shop disappointment - I wouldn't have (I am pretty sure) gotten pie. The doctor was quite firm about my need to lose weight and there's something about the doctor saying it.  I've had pie in Pie Town before, too, though.  This blunted the sharp pang of disappointment. When I was here a couple of years ago, I tried the pie at the dog-friendly Pie-O-Neer. Covid drove them out of business, sadly. This visit, not gonna lie, I seriously considered trying the pie from the only remaining pie shop in Pie Town.  Alas, the magic goddess of carbohydrates was watching out for me by making sure I was there on the one day a week that it is closed.

Anyway, I did my meetings, started rolling... did the math and realized I needed new plans. I'd stop and google a bit. Couldn't decide what I wanted to do, so kept rolling. Stop again. Ultimately I decided to go to Fredericksburg.  Emme had gone a couple of times and really raved about the place. It's an early German settlement and still has the flavor of a German village. Why not? It's close enough to on my way. Called ahead, got three nights reserved and pushed hard. Arrived a little after midnight, did the bare minimum of setup and fell into bed. No pics, just drove and drove and drove.

First thing I noticed is that I definitely crossed the humidity line that runs somewhere through Texas. People around here are complaining of the heat and at 84F it felt like cool spring breezes to me. The humidity hits my skin and hair like the soft caress of a long missed lover.

Nice to be here for three days.

Monday sans pie

Stella in Pie Town

 Arrived at the strange little tiny campground and picked a spot. Called to check-in but the lady didn't have my reservation. She said I could stay where I'd picked for the night, but the next night all five spots were taken. Normally I am pretty flexible about that sort of stuff, but I wasn't able to sit down and work as much as I would have liked because 1) I wanted out of Sedona early and 2) just drive days are harder for working and now my down day set aside for work and meetings was another travel day.

Funny little place.

The great news is the afternoon temps dropped rapidly in this crazy little place called Pie Town, NM. Downright comfortable. Got a little bit settled in, but not much since I'd be leaving in the morning. Took the dogs for a scamper in the cool sunset and explored our weird little place. The place had a bit of a hippie vibe. Sign says "If you're not staying with us but you need a shower, take one." Free wifi for anyone during the day. I wondered who would be so far off the beaten track and needing a shower, but who knows, could be anyone. (Did I start writing stories in my head? I did.) 

Suddenly, unexpectedly (yes, it deserves the double-down on these tired adverbs) I see distance cyclists going by. Like all geared out in their spandex with their paniers loaded.  I had to fight to restrain myself from chasing after them shouting "Hey! What are you doing out here? Where are you going?"   (Yes, I'm making up stories in my head.)

Still puzzling over the strangely comfortably temps, I pulled out my trusty altimeter app on my phone (I swear I use that app more most others.) Almost 8,000 feet up. I didn't realize. I could have stayed there, so happily stayed there, for much longer. Lovely quirky place with the hint of hiking and bicycle trails.

Alas, it's a long story why this change of plans in Pie Town made me cancel my first two Harvest Hosts. The first one could move me up a day, but they require that you get there by 3:30p and since I had meetings in the morning and needed to stay put for the wifi, I could not leave early enough to make it. 

My reservation the second night was at a really fun place - a grown up summer camp that people pay to come to but you can come for one night FREE as part of Harvest Hosts. I was so looking forward to the socializing (wait, what is socializing?) and games and stuff. Alas, they open Thursday through the weekend, so me coming in a day early on a Wednesday was a no.

You know what else? The pie shop in Pie Town is closed on Tuesday.

Sunday, sweltering in Sedona

Started early, but it was still awful. Drove the scenic loops, state parks, etc. that the area is famous for. The red rocks look pretty from the air conditioned interior of my truck, but up close they are like Tandoori clay ovens. The dogs and I are the food.

The briefest little hikes at some of the trail heads is all we could stand. Ninja kept looking at me like, WTF? I didn't take pictures. Why? Well, because it was hot. Also, those landmarks are so photographed. Hold on. Here you go, much better than I could have taken.

Trailhead for Bell Rock Loop

View of Bell, Castle and Courthouse rock from visitor center

Finally giving up on even getting out of the car, I began just pulling in and crawl-driving through the t parking lots. It is breathtaking.  Dogs were bored and once I stopped taking them in and out of the car they just stared at me like, "Okay, what then?" Googled for a dog park and although I found one online it didn't exist in the real world. The park was nice but didn't seem to have a dog park. Still we had a nice walk. Some shade, some green grass.  Hot.

View from one section of the park

They had a bike skills section that looked fun. I took some pictures, but didn't stay long and no, I didn't take the bicycle down and give it a spin. I think the tires might have melted. Plus, honestly the way I have everything tied up, getting my bicycle down during this part of the trip would be a lot of work.

Bike skills section 

Bike skills with a view

I noticed a Whole Foods on the way through Sedona so I went back and popped in for some fresh fruits and veggies. Then did a little more meandering on the way home exploring various state and county parks. The one remaining place I wanted to see - Palatki Ruins -- was closed for some reason. You have to take a guided tour so you can't see them at all when it's closed. I would have taken the tour and left the dogs in the running truck with the a/c.  Alas, it was closed, so not an option.

Back to the campground and into the trailer for the hottest part of the afternoon. The poor little a/c can't keep up. Internet is poor, too - worse than yesterday. Some big dust storm on the horizon and I wonder if that's why.

Frustrating.  Took the dogs down to the water for a little walk but for some reason they weren't very keen. On the way back they were pulling to get into the truck instead of the trailer. Ha ha, they aren't stupid.  It does get much cooler in the truck. But I can't just keep driving around forever... can I?

So we're back in the trailer.  It has dropped one degree now at 5:30p. 103F. As soon as it cools down I will prep as much as I can outside. Can't hitch up ahead of time, because the site is so short, but I intend to be as ready as possible tonight. Then I can get going EARLY. We stayed our planned three days, just didn't have as much adventuring time as I'd hoped. Not that the next place I'm going will be a whole lot cooler, but it might have a better signal and tomorrow is a work day. The heat wave is expected to continue into the middle of the week. 

Cottonwood, Clarkdale, Jerome and Montezuma

 Up early and out for some windshield tourism, mainly. Hit a couple of state parks, moseyed down to a river access to chat up some kayakers. Gosh I would have loved to have headed down that small river with them. Couple of miles down - could have walked back for my car.  But there's so much crap tied together on top of my truck that I'm loathe to extricate any of it. I'll have to do my yakking and bicycling after I get to the Greenhouse and unload all the extra. And I knew that. Just was hard to remember at such a tempting moment. Nice people getting ready to go... cows moseyed over and Ninja scampered over to see what's up... but then balked when they realized how much bigger they were than he.

We drove through Old Town Cottonwood and Historic Clarkdale (no pictures, just drove around.) Stopped at the historic wilderness train station in Jerome. Didn't go into the Ghost town or history museums in Jerome because dogs... but the drive to both of them was quite something. I did pop out to have a look at the Audrey Head - has to do with mining copper.  Then the thing I was most excited about, Montezuma's Castle and Montezuma's well. They did not disappoint, but it was getting hot. Grabbed a bean crunchwrap at Taco Bell and a big <some kind of hydration punch, idk what> and headed back to the trailer. I'm doing this and puttering around with stuff in the cool a/c. The dogs sleep then every once in awhile they stir and think "Hey, it's nice, let's go out."  So we mosey back down to the water front, but it's crazy hot so they don't really want to be out long, either. 

I'm thinking about something (easy) for dinner. Likely a can of soup. And we're in for the night probably - except one more after-dinner dog walk. A few pictures from the day. Sedona proper will be tomorrow.

River access point near Cottonwood   

Ghost town of Jerome - the drive was something.

Ghost town

Montezuma's castle - my pic from distance

View across Montezuma's well to the pueblos in the hillside (brochure pic)

Montezuma's castle brochure pic